SOCIOLOGICAL PARADIGMS

BAHRIA UNIVERSITY ISLAMABAD

ASSIGNMENT # 01
CLASS: LLB 1 (B)
SUBMITTED BY: QAZI MUHAMMAD USMAN HAIDER
ENROLLMENT NO: 01-177221-048
SUBJECT: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY
SUBMITTED TO: SIR MAZHAR BHUTTA
DATE: 24/4/22
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SOCIOLOGICAL PARADIGMS
All disciplines study the subject through different perspectives. These help in providing unique or
objective insights into the field that is studied. There are many sociological perspectives that have
evolved over time across its sub-fields. However, the three classical theories remain popular and
applicable to various societies and the interactions within them. These are- structural
functionalism, symbolic interactionism, and conflict theory.
THREE PARADIGMS
FOCUS SOCIETY IS...
 FUNCTIONALISM Large scale-structures and Consensual, integrated,
their functions. and static.

 CONFLICT Competition and conflict. Conflicted, competitive,

THEORY and immersed in power
struggles.
Symbols and face to
 SYMBOLIC
face interactions. Social interaction.
INTERACTIO
NISM

STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM
Functionalist perspective, also called functionalism, is one of the major theoretical perspectives in
sociology. It has its origins in the works of Emile Durkheim, who was especially interested in
how social order is possible or how society remains stable.

STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM IN GENDER

INEQUALITY:
A theory that suggests that gender inequalities exist as an efficient way to create a division of labor,
or a social system in which a particular segment of the population is clearly responsible for certain
acts of labor and another segment is clearly responsible for other labor acts.
The functionalist perspective sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to
promote solidarity and stability. This approach looks at society through a macro-level orientation,
which is a broad focus on the social structures that shape society as a whole and looks at both
social structure and social functions. Functionalism addresses society in terms of the function of
its constituent elements, namely: norms, customs, traditions, and institutions. A common analogy,
popularized by Herbert Spencer, presents these parts of society as “organs” that work toward the
proper functioning of the “body” as a whole.
The functionalist perspective of gender inequality was most robustly articulated in the 1940s and
1950s and developed by Talcott Parsons’ model of the nuclear family. This theory suggests that
gender inequalities exist as an efficient way to create a division of labor, or as a social system in
which segments are clearly responsible for certain, respective acts of
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labor. The division of labor works to maximize resources and efficiency. A structural
functionalist view of gender inequality applies the division of labor to view predefined
gender roles as complementary: women take care of the home while men provide for the
family. Thus gender, like other social institutions, contributes to the stability of society.
In sociological research, functional prerequisites are the basic needs (food, shelter, clothing,
and money) that an individual requires to live above the poverty line. Functional
prerequisites may also refer to the factors that allow a society to maintain social order.
According to structural functionalists, gender serves to maintain social order by providing
and ensuring the stability of such functional prerequisites.
This view has been criticized for reifying, rather than reflecting, gender roles. While gender
roles, according to the functionalist perspective, are beneficial in that they contribute to
stable social relations, many argue that gender roles are discriminatory and should not be
upheld. The feminist movement, which was on the rise while functionalism began to decline,
takes the position that functionalism neglects the suppression of women within the family
structure.

THE CONFLICT PARADIGM

Conflict theory, first developed by Karl Marx, is a theory that society is in a state of
perpetual conflict because of competition for limited resources. Conflict theory holds
that social order is maintained by domination and power, rather than by consensus and
conformity.

IN GENDER INEQUALITY CONFLICT PARADIGM

Conflict theory suggests that men, as the dominant gender, subordinate women to
maintain power and privilege in society.
 Conflict principle asserts that social problems occur while dominant
agencies mistreat subordinate ones, and therefore advocates for a balance of
energy among genders.

 Frederich Engels compared the own family structure to the connection between the
bourgeoisie and the proletariat, suggesting that ladies had less electricity than guys
inside the family due to the fact they had been depending on them for wages.

 Men, like another group with an electricity or wealth gain in Conflict Theory, fought to
maintain their manipulate over sources (in this situation, political and financial
electricity). Conflict among the two agencies brought on things just like the Women’s
Suffrage Movement and turned into answerable for social exchange.
Motive those roles persist is due to the fact the dominant organization naturally works to
preserve their energy and status. According to warfare concept, social problem According
to conflict idea, society is defined by a warfare for dominance amongst social groups that
compete for scarce resources. In the
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context of gender, war concept argues that gender is best understood as guys attempting to
hold energy and privilege to the detriment of ladies. Therefore, guys can be visible because
the dominant organization and women as the subordinate institution. While certain gender
roles may additionally had been appropriate in a hunter-gatherer society, war theorists argue
that the only are created while dominant corporations exploit or oppress subordinate
agencies. Therefore, their method is normative in that it prescribes changes to the energy
structure, advocating a stability of energy among genders.
In most cultures, men have historically held most of the world’s resources. Until quite
recently, girls in Western cultures could not vote or keep belongings, making them entirely
dependent on guys. Men, like any other group with an energy or wealth benefit, fought to
maintain their control over assets (in this case, political and economic strength). Conflict
among the two groups brought about things like the Women’s Suffrage Movement and
changed into accountable for social exchange.
Friedrich Engels, a German sociologist, studied circle of relative's structure and gender roles
from a Marxist angle. Engels cautioned that the identical proprietor-employee dating visible
within the challenging work pressure could also be visible in the household, with ladies
assuming the position of the proletariat. This changed into because of girls' dependence on
guys for the attainment of wages. Contemporary war theorists suggest that once ladies come
to be wage earners, they advantage electricity within the circle of relative's structure and
create extra democratic arrangements inside the domestic, even though they will still carry
most people of the domestic burden.
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THE INERACTIONIST PARADIGM

According to symbolic interactionist perspective, people attach meanings to symbols, and then
they act according to their subjective interpretation of these symbols.

THE INERACTIONIST PARADIGM IN GENDER

INEQUALITY:
From a symbolic interactionist perspective, gender is produced and reinforced through daily
interactions and the use of symbols.
 Scholars of interactionism look at how people act inside society and believe that
which means is produced via interactions.
 According to interactionists, gender stratification exists because people act towards
every different on the premise of the meanings, they've for every other, and that these
meanings are derived from social interaction.
 According to Cooley’s concept of the “searching-glass self,” a person’s knowledge
of their gender position is based on how society perceives them. Thus, if society
perspectives a man as masculine, he is going to additionally understand himself to
be masculine.
 “Doing gender” is the perception that masculinity and femineity are executed
gender identities. Gender is something we do or conduct, not something we are.
Social interaction is a face-to-face procedure that includes moves, reaction Interactionism

INTERACTIONISM
In sociology, interactionism is a theoretical attitude that knows social approaches (including
war, cooperation, identification formation) as rising from human interaction. Scholars of this
attitude study how people act inside society and agree with that that means is produced thru
the interactions of individuals. According to interactionists, gender stratification exists due to
the fact human beings act toward each different on the premise of the meanings they've for
each other. Interactionists trust that those meanings are derived via social interplay, and that
those meanings are managed and transformed through an interpretive manner that people use
to make experience of, and cope with, the gadgets that constitute their social worlds.

GOFFMAN AND CONTROL

Goffman and Controls, and mutual version between or more individuals. The purpose of
social interaction is to communicate with others. Social interaction includes all language,
consisting of body language and mannerisms. Erving Goffman, one of the ancestors of this
theoretical angle, emphasized the importance of manage in social interactions. According to
Goffman, during an interaction, people will try to manipulate the conduct of the opposite
participants, so that it will attain needed information, and on the way to control the notion of
one’s own photo. If the interplay is in threat of ending earlier than a person desires it to, it
may be conserved thru numerous steps. One conversational associate can conform to the
expectancies of the alternative, he or she will forget about sure incidents, or he or she will
clear up obvious issues.
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SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
Symbolic interactionism ambitions to apprehend human conduct by way of analyzing the
important function of symbols in human interaction. This is sincerely relevant to the dialogue
of masculinity and femininity because the traits and practices of both are socially
constructed, reproduced, and strengthened via daily interactions. Imagine, for instance, that
you walk right into a financial institution, hoping to get a small mortgage for college, a
home, or a small business project. If you meet with a male loan officer, you would nation
your case logically, listing all the tough numbers that make you a certified applicant for the
mortgage. This form of technique would attraction to the analytical traits commonly related
to masculinity. If you meet with a female loan officer, then again, you will make an
emotional enchantment, by mentioning your positive social intentions. This kind of method
might appeal to the touchy and relational traits typically related to femininity.

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
The meanings attached to symbols are socially created and fluid, rather than natural and
static. Because of this, we act and react to symbols based on their modern assigned
meanings. Both masculinity and femineity are performed gender identities, within the
experience that gender is something we do or perform, now not something we are. In
reaction to this phenomenon, the sociologist Charles H. Cooley’s developed the principle of
the “searching-glass self” (1902). In this principle, Cooley argued that a character’s belief of
himself or herself is based ordinarily how society perspectives her or him. In the context of
gender, if society perceives a man as masculine, that guy will consider himself as masculine.
Thus, when human beings perform responsibilities or own traits based totally on the gender
position assigned to them, they are stated to be doing gender (rather than “being” gender), a
perception first coined through West and Zimmerman (1987). West & Zimmerman
emphasized that gender is maintained through responsibility. People are predicted to conduct
their gender to the factor that it is far naturalized, and accordingly, their fame relies upon on
their performance.

GENDER STARTIFICATION BY
MELODY LELAND
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THE END
SOCIOLOGICAL PARADIGMS